In the Serpents Den
by Brimstone-VioletStar
Summary: It's Seventh year for Harry and the gang... but not as J.K. wrote it- Ginny is keeping Hogwarts safety in the hands of the D.A. But she has no idea what is in store for her when she crosses the line and is kidnapped by Death Eaters...
1. The Bait

A/N: This story is 100 Brimstone... none of that other business- this was going to be a one shot... but you know how it is when your mind gets going .

**The bait**

Chapter 1

Ginny paced back and forth as she looked at the clock, her detention was supposed to have started twelve minutes ago. Severus Snape really knew how to vex Gryffindor students beyond all reckoning. If she had been one minute late, Severus would have given her another hour of detention. Ginny heaved a sigh and slumped down onto the cold stone floor, outside the headmaster's office. She didn't even think to grab her book bag, she was sure that she wouldn't have time for reading… and she didn't want Snape or the Carrows digging through her stuff. Now if Severus had his way, he'd keep her from finishing her potions essay, transfiguration assignment, and the Quidditch game. She fumed and rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling. "It's a good thing the game is tomorrow…" Ginny thought with relief, though she knew that she'd miss practice today, since her detention hadn't even started, and practice was supposed to be in 15 minutes. "Wonderful… I'm captain and I can't even show up to my own practice… I'm sure he planned it this way on purpose!" By the time he gets here, practice would likely be over. "If it's not, it will be by the time I finish my blasted detention." Ginny sulked. She was so absorbed in her mood, that she didn't hear footsteps echoing of the walls as the climbed up the spiral staircase. They had crossed the landing from the stairs to the doorway where Ginny was huddled on the floor, her chin on her knees. The figure bent down over Ginny "Well… it looks like you are the one who got detention, Weselette!"

"Ginevra Weasley… What a pleasant surprise!" Zabini smirked at her, his eyes gleamed as if he knew something that was funny and he wasn't going to share it. He outstretched his hand offered it to her. Ginny jerked her head up at him; her eyes met his and searched his for answers. She looked confused and uneasy. "_What _are _you_ doing up here?" she said as she pulled herself to her feet and dusted off her uniform. "Well… It was me or the carrows; I offered to be the one to give your detention today!" He sounded cheery. It was like he expected her to be thankful that he was giving her detention. "Since _when_ did students… or Head-boy give out detention?" She said with so much distain, that she regretted having asked. Zabini's face went sour and he looked like someone else. He looked ten years old, and he looked like he had seen too much. Or perhaps it wasn't that he had seen, but felt. There was anger in his eyes and there was disgust. "_Since_ Albus Dumbledore died… since _Sycamore_ died… since Severus _Snape _became _Headmaster of _Hogwarts... since, so much has _changed_ Ginny!!" With that, Zabini muttered something at the door and walked into the headmaster's office. Ginny followed him into the office. Without turning around Zabini flicked his wrist and sent the doors flying shut and locked themselves. "What we have here Weselette… is a student with a taste for trouble. While Snape has let this go as of late… his patience is running thin. He had intended to send the Carrows after you, to teach the D.A. a lesson… but decided against it. Do you know why…" He let his voice die out as he turned to face her. He had a small smirk playing at the side of his lips. 'It looks like Draco is still at Hogwarts…' She chuckled to herself. "Do you find this funny? Gin… we're talking about you breaking not only school rules… but new laws passed by the _Ministry_… is this a laughing matter to you?" Ginny sighed and tried to shake the thoughts from her mind. Shaking her head, she looked at Blaise, "No… it's not …" She apologized and swallowed. 'He's kind of scary like this… I've never seen someone so young look so composed, so mature.' She thought as she began looking around Snape's office. His office was filled with the same dark scary artifacts that he kept in his office in the dungeons; the only difference is that they were caught in the sunlight, which meant that you could see them much better. Making them appear a little less scary and a lot more grotesque.

"Well… we can't keep letting these escapades happen… someone like you need's to be an example to the D.A. and the rest of the school… _So_... what are we going to do with you, Weselette?" Zabini's addressed her as one would address an old friend. She sighed and looked at him with a sad smile. "What one must do to those who stubbornly resist the strict administration at school… or even the Ministry!" She placed her hands on her hips and bit her lip. "It doesn't matter… it never will, even if the rest of the D.A. gives up and complies… I won't, and I'm not the only one… there will always be a resistance here, those who are loyal to Dumbledore…" He was fast, but she was faster. She had been reaching for her wand since she put her hands on her hips. Green sparks hit yellow as the two spells collided with each other, and exploded. "Now… this is no way to take your punishment…" Blaise chuckled with amusement. She always had been stubborn and tempermental. "Diffindo!" She screamed as she raised her right hand from her left shoulder, and brought it down to rest at her side on the right. Zabini blocked just in time to save his left arm. He mulled over the deep cut on his arm, and the tare of his robe's sleeve. Ginny took the few seconds he found his arm to be more important then her, to send another spell flying. "Expelliarmus!" She breathed and watched in disappointment as Zabini dodged the spell completely, he dropped to the floor and rolled, bringing himself up near one of Severus's bookshelves. 'Perfect!' Ginny thought as she flung her next spell at Blaise. "Here's one for the record…" She was caught of guard as Zabini sent a curse flying at her. She flew backwards landing on one of the chairs in front of Snape's desk and then fell to the floor as it broke and landed on her back, searing pain coursed through her body.

"Now… perhaps you'll keep your nose out of business it doesn't belong in?!" Blaise's voice was inquisitive and reassuring. He walked over to her and looked down at her. "Unelmos Despair" He muttered and put his wand away before helping her up. "Let's get you to the infirmary… You're a mess…Besides; I wouldn't want to explain to Snape what happened to one of the students under his gracious protection…" His words were light and confident; 'as if Snape would care…' he noted before staggering backwards as he helped Ginny up. He felt light headed and in disarray, he wasn't sure but he guessed that it had something to do with the blood that was now trickling down his arm. Blaise grabbed her by the left arm and briskly walked out of the Headmasters office and down to the infirmary. 'Gracious protection? He hardly even bats an eye when the Carrows torture any of the students here. McGonagall can't do anything without turning herself into a target, which would leave the Order in complete disarray if the ministry locked her up…not to mention the fact that there'd be one less person who actually worked hard to protect the students.' Ginny bit her lower lip, somehow she had to talk to McGonagall, things were getting out of hand… and if she knew any better, Minerva was going to scold her for her behavior. "Look… I'm fine; I don't need to go to the infirmary." Gin attempted to pull her arm free from his grasp, but that only caused him to tighten his hold on her. Blaise's dull and nearly non-existent nails dug into her arm, causing her to bleed. "Don't fight it, Weselette… shall we duel again? Trust me, this time I won't be so slow… nor will I be sympathetic." He glared at her so intently, she was afraid that he might backhand her. "Um… The infirmary… seems like a good…idea!" Ginny said, a bit confused; it wasn't what she wanted to say, the words just came out… as if she were a puppet.

Zabini opened the door to the infirmary and half-dragged Ginny over to one of the beds. She was making it as difficult as possible to get her to the infirmary since she had verbally agreed to it. Zabini was losing patience with her, and that wasn't all… if she didn't start cooperating with him, he might resort to drastic measures again. The idea was slightly appealing, he thought; as he threw her down onto one of the beds. "Sit _here_, and don't move… I'll be right back with Pomfrye!" Ginn didn't protest. She didn't even make an attempt to move, she wasn't sure why she stayed put. But she knew she didn't want to find out what Zabini would do, if she resisted. 'What's going on… I don't want to stay… I don't even want to be here!' Gin breathed heavily, as if she was suffocating. 'I need to get out of here… he's probably got some poison… what if he imperio's Pomfry to kill me or something?' Those thoughts gave Gin the strength to get up, but as she got up she felt her strength and energy drain out of her like a flood. She pressed on and took a step away from the bed, fell back and passed out.


	2. In the darkness

She winced and sat up

Chapter 2

She winced and sat up. She didn't know where she was… but it was dark, and wet. "Where am I?" she thought as her glossy chocolate-brown eyes searched the darkness. 'This isn't the imfirmary…What happened? How did I get here!?' Gin winced and rubbed her forehead. Her eyes were unaccustomed to the darkness and unable to get an understanding of their surroundings. But her eyes would adjust, eventually. Carefully and with determination to feel every detail, Ginny started feeling her surroundings with her hands. The floor was made of stone; it was cold, dirty and wet. As she got to her feet she could hear the faint sound of water dripping somewhere in the darkness. "Oh no," she thought, as she began to search frantically for her wand. "Not the chamber of secrets…. Not again!" After searching for her wand in the darkness for a few moments, she felt her wand where she usually kept it; as she accidentally sent it falling to the floor with a loud clank. Ginny swore as she dropped to her knees and began searching for her wand, with a little less panic. Something told her she didn't even want to know where she was, but she was still determined to have a gander at her surroundings.

Somewhere in the vast empty space that filled the room, or hall; Ginny had assumed she was in, there was the sound of a low murmur… it almost sounded like chanting, as it echoed through out the vacant stone walls. Her eyes were starting to adjust, and she could see the outlines of ruins. There were statues, pillars and other beautiful works of art lying in piles of rubble. "It's a pity…" she reflected as her hand clasped around the wooden shaft of her wand. "_Who's _there…. I'm warning you! Stop playing games, or I'll…" Her voice cracked with panic. "Nice one Ginny… way to sound threatening… or convincing…" she mentally berated herself. Slowly she stood up again, and muttered lumos.

Sure enough, the room she was in was an empty hall, or more like a chamber. The darkness of her surroundings threatened to swallow up the light she had created. The chanting seemed to have been coming from somewhere in front of her, to her right. "Ok… Alright, so far! I could be panicking…" She thought as she started walking in the direction of the chanting. "Maybe I'm dreaming… Though I doubt that a nightmare could be any scarier then this…" Nightmares had been common lately… ever since Harry broke up with her last year, fallowing Dumbledore's death. "Perhaps it was a bad idea to have stirred up the D.A. and messed with the Carrows, or even Snape for that matter." She muttered aloud, hoping that she wasn't alone. As if to answer her plea, the chanting stopped.

"Well… that may have helped, but it wouldn't change things that are already in motion." A voice laughed in the darkness, and dripped with evil so strong it gave Gin flash backs of her first year at Hogwarts, when Voldemort had laughed at her for being so easily ensnared by his words. "Is that so? What _things_?" Ginny breathed as she tightened her hand around her wand. Her knuckles were white and her hand was a soft pale color that seemed to reflect her wand light. "Who _are_ you? What do you want with _me_?" Her voice strained, it revealed how scared she was, but betrayed her strength. Scared as she was, Ginny wasn't about cowering, not for anyone. "Give it a rest, I am in control here!" The voice was commanding, but gentle. Ginny was taken by surprise; her captor's voice was gentle and sincere. "That's better… _Now_, you are here because of your connection to _Potter_… The Dark Lord has use for you, and here is where you shall remain… _for now_!" The voice was acidic and dangerous; there was no sign of the gentleness that was there only half a second ago. Ginny's lower lip trembled, her knee's felt weak… and she was thankful for the darkness. She was glad that who ever her captor was, they couldn't see how scared she was right now. A part of her was furious! She let that part grow. "This is exactly what Harry was afraid would happen… what an idiot, how could he not realize it would happen either way?" Her strength returned as her thoughts continued to compose themselves into hatred and pain. She was alone now. The only ones who could save her were Neville and Luna, but they probably wouldn't even know where to look… she didn't even know where she was.

"Your food is right here, in the stone gargoyles outstretched hands. Your food will be given to you everyday, should you behave…" The voice was soft, almost pityingly, but it was still harsh. It held a hint of warning as Ginny walked closer to the gargoyle. She looked the statue over slowly. There was a Snake coiled around the left leg of the gargoyle, and a small dragon crouched on its shoulder. "Do _NOT_, wander past this gargoyle when I am here… if you do, your punishment will be most severe…" The voice was cold, and for the first time… Ginny could sense a bit of familiarity to the voice, though she couldn't put her finger on it. While she was trying to figure out who the voice belonged too, she was unaware that her captor was leaving until she was startled by a loud popping sound, as they disapperated.

Who ever her captor was, he or she was loyal to the Dark Lord…. And they were definitely male; both facts terrified her! Gin knew she had to get out of here, but she didn't know how to go about escaping. If the dark lord wanted her kept here to use against Harry? Why wasn't she chained up, where she couldn't attempt to escape? Perhaps it wasn't possible to escape… but surely that was impossible. And what about the fact that she was being fed, how long exactly did they plan to keep her here? If they didn't want to kill her right now…. They probably planned to torture her in front of Harry. What ever their reasons were, she didn't want to stick around and find out. She took the gracious offering from the dragon, and ate. She was cautious at first, not sure if her food was poisoned or not. The bread was moist and the food tasted like it came from the kitchens of Hogwarts.

Longing wrenched her heart upside down as it attempted to jump out of her chest. She wanted to go home; she wanted to see her parents, and her brothers… She longed to see Harry and she missed talking with Hermione. Hermione had been like a sister to her, but she left with Ron and Harry. Neville had tried to comfort her at the beginning of the year, when she told him that Hermione, Ron and Harry wouldn't be coming to school this year. He had asked her why, and the only answer she could give was that she didn't know. How she hated not knowing… especially when it involved Harry, or anyone of her family for that matter. There had been no explanation, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all left without explaining anything… another one of their adventures where she got left behind. Neville tried to comfort her when she told him that Harry broke up with her over the summer, and that the trio left without explaining… he even thought that they should keep the D.A. going, for Dumbledore, and for Harry. Neville seemed to think Ginny had the perfect qualifications to run the D.A., but Ginny wasn't so sure.

Her kidnapper's words rang in her ears, "That may have helped….but it wouldn't change things that are already in motion!" What did he mean, what was already in motion? Ginny swallowed as a knot formed in her throat. Her throat dropped down into her chest and heart tightened. A dreadful thought accrued to her. 'What if mom and dad aren't alive… what if the Death Eaters got to the Order?' Her heart began to race. Ginny began to search the chamber thoroughly; finally she found what appeared to be a passageway. It was blocked by a pillar that had fallen across it; some of the rubble had blocked the bottom of the passageway. She'd either have to climb over the rubble, or she'd have to blast it away. 'Blast it!' She decided with a smile. She sent her spell flying and covered her face as the pillar- now dust; flew back into her face. I can't believe he didn't chain me up… why, did he not know… didn't he think I'd run? The idea stopped her dead in her tracks, what if he did… After all, he didn't take her wand away.

Ginny shook the thoughts from her head and continued her walk down the passageway carefully. The idea was possible and more then a bit unsettling, but she was more convinced there wasn't a way out. 'It makes sense to leave me with my wand because they want me to feel like I can't get out… they want to break me from the inside. If they can break my spirit, it will be easier for them to control me, and break Harry…' She thought with confidence. As she walked down the passageway, she made note of the details on the walls and the stone floor. The last thing she wanted to do was get lost. There was a fork up ahead and both passageways seemed to have airflow, fresh air caught her hair and sent it flowing behind her like a red linen sheet, caught in the current of a river. The air was wet, and she could smell putrefied leaves. Ginny followed the passageway to the right and entered a small chamber which was black, except for a small stream of light that came in through a hole in the ceiling. She ran under the light and looked up at the sky. The dark, but there were a few twinkling stars that shown down into the small chamber. 'Its night out… How late, I wonder?' She was kind of relieved that she was here; Snape and the Carrows would have been far worse then this.

Pain shot through his forehead. Ginny bent down and caressed his face, and brushed his sweat soaked locks of hair out of his eyes. His scar hurt again, it wasn't the first time in the past few months that it bothered him, and it probably wouldn't be the last. But this time was particularly bad. "Harry, Harry… It's just a dream, wake up…please!" It didn't work… she kept trying to wake him, lightly touching him on the cheek, but it wasn't working. Slowly, and painfully Harry stirred. "Hermione, did you just touch my cheek?" Harry said groggily.

"No Harry… are you alright though? Your scar, it's hurting again… isn't it?" Hermione was sitting a short ways away from Harry, but she didn't even look up at him. Ron was nowhere in sight. Ginny bit her lower lip, "He can't see me!" she thought with a pang of hurt. I really wish I could talk to him… even if I am still mad at him. For some reason, she needed to hear from him... She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream. The mess at Hogwarts was getting increasingly dangerous, and yet, no one was allowed to leave. "He can't see me, but somehow… he knows I'm here, somehow I was able to wake him up from his nightmare…" Gin felt relieved that a part of him was thinking about her, she needed to talk to him… but there was no way she could. Somewhere outside, they could hear twigs snapping, and then someone muttered something. "What was that Hermione?" Harry jumped up from the spot in the tent where he had been sleeping, and the two of them walked out of the tent, wands drawn. Ginny was alone again, left to be swallowed in darkness… there was a whisper in her ears as she blacked out. "Soon, his life will end… while you wither in pain, and then you shall die as well…"

Ginny rolled over and opened her eyes. The moonlight shown down her face, which woke her up, Gin sat up and looked around. It wasn't a dream…was it? She was still held captive by a death eater. But she hadn't dream about Harry, how could she have known what Harry and Hermione were doing? Had she really been there? Had she really comforted him as he slept? And why wasn't Ron with them? Pain started to stab her in the chest, something came rolling up from her chest and exploded as it reached her face. Tears started to spill out as Gin bawled. 'Ron….' Without hesitation, she pulled out her wand and threw a spell up into the opening in the ceiling. "First they killed Ron, mom dad, bill… everyone in the order, Hermione, and then me! They'll all die and Harry will loose hope…" She couldn't bare the pain. Ron didn't deserve to die… no one did. It wasn't fair, why did she have to be the last one… left all alone, just like in the chamber of secrets… to die alone. Gin shuddered. She didn't want to die, not alone. "Oh… don't you worry, you won't be alone… You shall die together…" A figure appeared in the entrance to the chamber. The light from the sky above caught the figure's face; the moonlight glinted of red eyes, and pale grey skin. He had no nose, but there was a slit where his nose should be. Though Ginny had never seen him before she knew who was standing before her. He had haunted her nightmares plenty of times… though his face looked different in most of them. His face was younger, more human… like the young man in the diary. Pain shot threw her body as he raised his wand. "I shall not kill you… no, not yet… First, you will attract Harry's attention…for as we speak, he knows you are here…" She fell to the floor screaming, as the pain intensified. Her body felt like it was on fire, every bit of her body wanted to die. 'This is what I expected… why did they start off being kind? It was because they were going to be cruel later…' Gin bit her lip and started to cry. 'I won't scream… no, I won't give Voldemort the satisfaction…' Her body convulsed and went limp. She tried to roll over and grab her wand which had rolled out of her hands when she fell, but her body wouldn't respond. Voldemort floated over to her, across the dirt covered stone floor. "You will do as you're told… or the pain will be severe." He said with merciful malice and then disappeared suddenly. It was as if he had never been there at all, but the pain- that was real. 'I can't stay here… I can't let them find me, but I can't move!' Gin blinked back tears and fought the darkness which was enclosing around her rapidly. As she blacked out, she saw the blurry silhouette of a hand reach out and brush the hair out of her face.


End file.
